Clay continues to confound Roddick

Updated: May 29, 2007, 10:57 PM ET

It's not that Andy Roddick doesn't like getting dirty. He's won six tournaments on clay, including four of the first six of his career. Rather, clay just doesn't seem to like Roddick, writes Greg Garber.

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By Greg Garber
ESPN.com
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PARIS -- In the fading sunlight, Andy Roddick fumed in his changeover chair. He turned and searched the south-end seats at Court Suzanne Lenglen for his coach.

Jimmy Connors, dressed in his usual snappy blue blazer, raised his hands in an effort to restore calm. Roddick looked away, shaking his head. He had just lost Tuesday's third (and pivotal) set to Igor Andreev and there were no answers coming from Connors, whose face wore a vague look of astonishment. Maybe it's because Connors was 0-for-13 at Roland Garros, the French Open the only Grand Slam that eluded him.

Eventually, almost predictably, No. 3-seeded Roddick lost his first-round match to the gangly, shaggy-haired Russian, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4. After reaching the third round in his debut here in 2001, Roddick has now exited four times in the first round and twice in the second.

"I talked about it with Jimmy," Roddick said later. "I'm like, 'Is there anything I'm missing here?' He said, 'No. I can't think of anything.'

"Trying to penetrate deep and to the corners, trying to promote a short ball and get in, that's how I play. And it's tough to switch it up and all of a sudden change your stroke production, change everything."

It's not that Roddick doesn't like getting dirty. He has won five singles tournaments on clay, including three of the first six of his career.

Rather, clay just doesn't seem to like Roddick. It is a slippery red slope that tempers his powerful serve and forehand and forces him to do things he isn't particularly good at, i.e., moving around the court, hitting backhands and volleys, and navigating his way through long points.

Playing on clay, however, is occasionally a professional necessity. For Roddick, it's like that ruthless sixth-grade English teacher who insisted on proper spelling -- ultimately, it takes him out of his comfort zone, which is a good thing.

This is why Roddick subjects himself to this excruciating torture every spring at Roland Garros. It has been a cruel venue for the 24-year-old American. Last year, as the No. 5 seed, Roddick retired one game into the third set of his first-round match against Alberto Martin with a sprained ankle.

AP Photo/David VincentRoddick has lost his past three matches at the French Open, winning a combined total of three sets.

"I've been my own worst enemy here for a lot of times," Roddick said. "I've come in here and been pretty disappointed with myself. I don't know if that's the case today. I feel a little bit better coming out of this than I have in the past.

"But at the same time, same result."

Roddick's being the No. 3 seed here was a blatant case of false advertising. He would have been happy just to string together several wins heading into the grass-court season that favors his thumping game.

"If I don't reach the second week, I leave here disappointed," Roddick told a small group of reporters that included venerable Matt Cronin on Sunday. "I feel like it's a realistic goal.

He appeared to mean it.

"When I play well, I can do OK and find the range," Roddick continued. "But when I'm not playing my best, finding a way to get through the matches is more challenging on this surface than on hard courts."

That's because Roddick can't simply reach back and hit the ball harder when he finds himself in a hole. He has to feel the points. He has to be patient. He has to think.

On clay, he sometimes finds doing these things very difficult.

Like good spelling, clay-court tennis sometimes will carry you through difficult moments. With the United States playing on clay back in February, Roddick won two matches to help lead America to a 4-1 Davis Cup victory over host Czech Republic in Ostrava. Roddick beat Ivo Minar in the opening rubber, then closed the deal with a four-set victory over Tomas Berdych.

Historically, Roddick has had impressive success on clay. He has won 63 of 94 matches, a winning percentage most major league pitchers would envy. He has beaten Fernando Gonzalez, Tommy Robredo and Berdych. But for every marquee player on his résumé of dirt, there is a Sargis Sargsian or a Wayne Arthurs.

Andreev belongs near the top of the second group. At 23, he is a career .500 player, and his clay-court record isn't much better. Still, he reached the round of 16 in his Paris debut in 2004, upsetting defending champion Juan Carlos Ferrero along the way. When the draw came out, some tennis analysts thought Roddick's first match would be his last.

The first point, a tedious corner-to-corner rally that seemed to last for several minutes and was won by Andreev, suggested a long day. Roddick fell into a love-40 hole on his second service game but dug out with some help from Andreev's erratic forehand. Later, with Andreev serving at 3-4, Roddick broke him when a forehand hooked wide.

"Yeah! Come on!" Roddick screamed, making a fist.

On set point, Roddick screamed a 130-mph ace down the middle and the prospects seemed good for a shorter day. Thirty-five minutes later, it was a set apiece. Andreev broke Roddick's serve in the fifth and 10th games.

The match turned on a single game in the third set. With Andreev serving for the set at 5-3, Roddick scored two break points. They evaporated when Roddick missed two forehands and Andreev won the game and the set (and, ultimately, the match) with a crazy, looping, cross-court forehand that curved so sharply it was almost hard to believe.

In the end, after two hours and 43 minutes, Andreev hit another forehand winner and Roddick's shoulders sagged and he began the slow walk to the net.

Roddick was asked afterward whether he would consider playing more on clay to improve his results at Roland Garros.

"At this point," Roddick said, "I don't have to think about it for a while. You know, I'm not sure.

"Do you overplay on your worst surface, or do you try to play a lot on your best surface? If I pick either way and it doesn't work, it's going to be the wrong decision. So, it's tough."

After seven years of futility on the dirt, that sounded like a no.

Greg Garber is a senior writer for ESPN.com.